Openet Telecom records profit

OPENET Telecom, which is backed by former Esat boss Barry Maloney, made its first profits last year.

Accounts for the company show it reversed a €3.8 million loss in 2003 to a pre-tax profit of €85,000 in the year to end June 2004.

Openet, which provides billing services to the major phone companies, said it made the profits due to a surge in revenues and the benefits of an acquisition.

“In the year to June 30, 2004, the industry in which the group operates began a slow recovery with operators beginning to increase capital spending. The group continued its strong performance, both in terms of customer and deals won, new product development, and in November 2003 acquired the trade and assets of Sepro through which it acquired valuable ratings technology to add to its existing product lines,” Openet said.

The company’s clients include British Telecom, Verizon Wireless and mobile operator Orange.

Turnover for the year rose by 76% to €16.6 million, though at operating level Openet still made a loss of €83,788.

The accounts show that most of Openet’s turnover is generated in the US, where revenues grew from €6.2 million to more than €10 million.

All three sources of revenue generation: licence fees, engineering services and maintenance grew during the year.

The number of people employed by company rose by 26 to 126, pushing the wages bill from €6.8m to €9.2m.